I'm having that issue with my BB7 road calipers and SRAM Apex levers. After some screwing with them a bit they are better but they still don't seem to have the power of my BB7 mountain setup on my other bike.

I'm having that issue with my BB7 road calipers and SRAM Apex levers. After some screwing with them a bit they are better but they still don't seem to have the power of my BB7 mountain setup on my other bike.

Are your pads contaminated? Thats what I would guess. Same size rotors as your MTB?

Does everyone have this problem with the levers being so close to the bars? Red wouldn't be any better than Force or Rival?

After what has been mentioned in earlier posts, im starting to think that some shimano models are "longer pull". Some models work better with BB7 mountain calipers. So if you were to swap the BB7 MTN for a BB7 road, the lever throw should be nice and short. Perfect for two finger braking on the hoods. Granted, if you can derive enough power out of them.

Sheepo or anyone else that wants to answer, would you rather have a RED bike with BB7s or a Ultegra Ui2 with MiniVs or Avid Ultimates

For racing? If so, like I said earlier the discs are about a pound heavier for lifting the bike over barriers.

And honestly, I wouldnt put super nice parts on a race bike unless you are made of money and can afford to replace them. CX racing is pretty hard on components.

If you have extra money to spend and are looking for the best performance upgrades for the money, get 3 sets of tubular wheels. One with file treads, one with all arounders, and one with mud tires. And spend the rest of the money on a cheap used group off ebay.

Having the correct tire for every race will make you way faster than a fancy group with crisp shifting!

Ui2. Why? Because its neat and Cantis work fine. Red is a great group and BB7s work fine too.

But Ui2 has some extra "cool factor" IMO.

You don't "need" Ui2....and it's not for everyone....but if you try it, you will probably want it.
When I first saw the electric systems...my first thought was "who needs it?" Then I rode it and had to have it.
Got it on my new road bike....and now shifting my mechanical Dura Ace equipped cross bikes seems hard. Real First World problems....
Now...if Shimano could make a hydro Ui2 set up......

Are your pads contaminated? Thats what I would guess. Same size rotors as your MTB?

I doubt the pads are contaminated. The bike has about 100 miles on it and I haven't touched it with any solvents, lubricants, etc. The combination of the pads wearing in and my adjustments have mad the brake power a bit better than it was out of the box but I still feel it is lacking. Only the rear rotor is 20mm smaller than my mtn bike setup, but even then there wouldn't be that big of a difference with the stuff I ride.

I doubt the pads are contaminated. The bike has about 100 miles on it and I haven't touched it with any solvents, lubricants, etc. The combination of the pads wearing in and my adjustments have mad the brake power a bit better than it was out of the box but I still feel it is lacking. Only the rear rotor is 20mm smaller than my mtn bike setup, but even then there wouldn't be that big of a difference with the stuff I ride.

What kind of housing? If the housing is compressing a lot, could that rob power?

I raced cantis that day.

Originally Posted by Sheepo5669

I personally have never raced or ridden in snow. How were peoples Cantis working for them that day?

Any complaints?

Stock pads on Avid Ultimates, which are pretty decent. Braking power was virtually non-existant, but it really didn't matter. I was in the first heat and it was more about keeping going in 8 inches of snow than worrying about stopping. If you wanted to slow down I just veered off into deeper snow for a bit. After a lap or two when the course got packed down a bit, it really was pretty fun. Braking was the least of the worries though, my front derailleur was totally iced up, and I was down to about three gears in the rear, and snow packing in the cleats was a major PITA, even with egg beaters. It was the State Championship as well.

Little OT but curious about one thing w/the electric shifting. Why use traditional shifter paddles under the brake lever, I mean isn't their purpose so there is enough cable pull to make the shift? Why not just a couple buttons like on the TT type bikes??

Hydro brakes w/the electric shifting sounds like the shiz tho, but I'm addicted to my cross top levers so not sure they would work for me. Disc's FTW in the muck!

Braking was the least of the worries though, my front derailleur was totally iced up, and I was down to about three gears in the rear, and snow packing in the cleats was a major PITA, even with egg beaters. It was the State Championship as well.

Living/racing mostly in the south, I had always wondered why some states stoped cross racing in late November/early December - now I see why.

Stock pads on Avid Ultimates, which are pretty decent. Braking power was virtually non-existant, but it really didn't matter. I was in the first heat and it was more about keeping going in 8 inches of snow than worrying about stopping. If you wanted to slow down I just veered off into deeper snow for a bit. After a lap or two when the course got packed down a bit, it really was pretty fun. Braking was the least of the worries though, my front derailleur was totally iced up, and I was down to about three gears in the rear, and snow packing in the cleats was a major PITA, even with egg beaters. It was the State Championship as well.

Wow, you had more snow than we did for the championship race. I too had some issues clipping back in, even with crank bros. And braking seemed about the same for everyone. I feel like disc brakes would be overkill in these types of conditions, considering the lack of traction.

About half the course was covered with snow, some parts got plowed the day before with a atv.

Stock pads on Avid Ultimates, which are pretty decent. Braking power was virtually non-existant, but it really didn't matter. I was in the first heat and it was more about keeping going in 8 inches of snow than worrying about stopping. If you wanted to slow down I just veered off into deeper snow for a bit. After a lap or two when the course got packed down a bit, it really was pretty fun. Braking was the least of the worries though, my front derailleur was totally iced up, and I was down to about three gears in the rear, and snow packing in the cleats was a major PITA, even with egg beaters. It was the State Championship as well.

I raced that day as well! Last heat in the SS class but I think most people were effectively SS or close to it that day. As you said, I didn't care much about braking that day. Even in the last heat it was easier to veer off into deep snow on the downhills than try to get any traction while braking. There was none to be had!

I'm running 324 lab adapters with formula R1 hydro brakes on a SS set up. Pretty light going this route. Love the modulation. Any type of wet weather and I had the advantage. Not a cheap set up but I found I could really push guys in corners, whether in front or behind, enough that they would make a mistake. I'm not running a normal set up with a steel frame, belt drive, discs, and tubeless on Stan's crest wheels but being a mtb'r at heart it works and wins for me.

I have a set of BB7s on an older set of 105 shifters. I don't race, but I often commute in the snow. I don't have any problems with cable draw and I can easily brake from the hoods. I also have a set of paul cross levers of my bars. They are an older set that lack the barrel adjuster which makes cable set up crucial. I still managed to get a really good set up. If you are having cable pull issues make sure when you start pulling your lever the cable starts moving and there isn't any slack. Housing settling or lack of return spring strength can cause slack, especially on a rear brake as there is so much more cable friction to overcome.
I have never run a set of avid shifters though, maybe they just don't have as much cable throw.

True story: Yesterday we had a mud fest of a CX race. It poured all morning and straight through our day of racing. Needless to say, by the time the 1/2s got onto the course, it was nasty.

Rivers of standing water that you had to pedal through were all over the course, along with thicker mud sections.

For the record, I switched back to my drop bars and BB7s. After the couple laps of riding in a pack and being forced to use more brakes than I desired, my lever started traveling closer and closer to my bar. By halfway through the race my rear brake lever was bottoming out on my bar and gave me 10% power.

Starting then and every couple laps there after, I would have to reach down and turn in my pad adjusters as I would run the barriers.

Needless to say, my pads were literally wearing out before my eyes.

On the last lap, I flatted a tubular and rode the the pit for a swap. I jumped on my 1985 schwinn cimarron with 1990s XTR Vs and finished the race.

The XTR brakes on the final lap worked awesome and provided all the power I needed to get around the course fast. Granted, in mud, you dont need to ton of power. Just enough to scrub the smallest amounts of speed to make the corners smoothly.

I guess this all reinforces my previous post. In yesterdays experience, discs slowed me down more than my Vs(no puns intended!)